Robert Fuchs

• Professor at University of Bonn

Previous research has identified and studied a wide range of non-standard syntactic constructions in global varieties of English. However, there is currently a lack of large-scale corpus-based evidence on non-standard syntactic variation in English from a global perspective. The present study seeks to fill this gap through an analysis of a set of s...

India is the world's most populous country and a hub of linguistic diversity. Within this diverse country, India's Northeast is a region that is historically, geographically, religiously, and linguistically more distinct from the rest of India than probably any other region, but it has received scant attention from academic research. As a locus of...

The presentation introduces the corpus of Young German Learner English, researching the acquisition of English as an L2 in the institutionalized context of the German secondary school system.

While rhythm metrics have been widely used to quantify speech rhythm, direct evidence of their perceptual validity is currently very limited. If it were to be shown that particular rhythm metrics reflect, at least to some degree, listeners’ perception of speech rhythm, this would substantially enhance the case for their use as accurate quantificati...

This chapter critically discusses recent research on speech rhythm in native, learner and second language varieties of English. Impressionistic descriptions have often claimed that Second Language or ‘Outer Circle’ varieties of English are syllable-timed, in contrast to the stress-timed rhythm of Native or ‘Inner Circle’ varieties of English. With...

We report an experiment investigating the relative weighting of acoustic cues (vowel quality, intensity, duration and f0) in lexical stress perception in Indian English (IndE), compared with Southern Standard British English (SSBE). GLMM modelling of responses shows both similarities (e.g. vowel quality was by far the most important cue for both In...

There is an ever-growing body of work on New Englishes, and the time has come to take stock of how research on varieties of English is carried out. The contributions in this volume critically explore the gamut of familiar and unfamiliar methods applied in data collection and analysis in order to improve upon old methods and develop new methods for...

Varieties of English in the Caribbean have been claimed to have characteristic pitch patterns. However, there is little empirical research on prosodic aspects of English in the region. This paper provides a comparative phonetic analysis of several pitch parameters (pitch level, range, dynamism, rate of change, variability in rate of change, and ton...

Continuing the series of successful symposia, we are happy to announce the fourth Current Trends in Linguistics Conference (CuTLi), to be held from the 9th to 10th of July 2021. This year’s conference theme – Global Dialect Laboratories in Multilingual Ecologies – focusses on the development of English around the world, especially in urban and dens...

The present study investigates rhotics in Standard Scottish English (SSE). Drawing on an auditory analysis of formal speeches given in the Scottish Parliament by 49 speakers (members of parliament and the general public), it examines whether an underlying rhotic standard exists for SSE speakers from all over Scotland, whether and where rhotics are...

The current study provides a phonetic perspective on the questions of whether a high degree of variability in pitch may be considered a characteristic, endonormative feature of Trinidadian English (TrinE) at the level of speech production and contribute to what is popularly described as 'sing-song' prosody. Based on read and spontaneous data from 1...

How do women and men from around the world really speak English? Using examples from World Englishes in Africa, America, Asia, Britain and the Caribbean, this book explores the degree of variation based on gender, in native-, second- and foreign-language varieties. Each chapter is rooted in a particular set of linguistic corpora, and combines authe...

Advances in Learner Corpus Research (LCR) and Second Language Acquisition (SLA) have brought these two fast-moving fields significantly closer in recent years. This volume brings together contributions from internationally recognized experts in both LCR and SLA to provide an innovative, cross-collaborative examination of how both areas can provide...

The expression of temporal relations, notably through tense and aspect, is central in all processes of communication, but commonly perceived and described as a major hurdle for non-native speakers. While this topic has already received considerable attention in the SLA literature, it features less prominently in recent corpus-based studies of learn...

The expression of temporal relations, notably through tense and aspect, is central in all processes of communication, but commonly perceived and described as a major hurdle for non-native speakers. While this topic has already received considerable attention in the SLA literature, it features less prominently in recent corpus-based studies of learn...

Less than three decades after the launch of the International Corpus of English project, corpus‐based research on world Englishes has enjoyed continued success. A wide variety of corpora and databases are now available to researchers, which allow for the exploration of very large datasets of varieties of English all over the globe, including histor...

Based on a diachronic newspaper corpus, this study analyses change in the use of the progressive in the Indian English (IndE) settler strand and indigenous strand varieties from 1900 to 2000, comparing it to developments in British English (BrE). Results indicate that these three varieties showed distinct patterns of usage. The IndE indigenous stra...

The spread of the progressive from dynamic to stative verbs started in the seventeenth century, and slowed down in the late twentieth century. The present study investigates recent change in the use of stative progressives in conversational British English from the early 1990s to the early 2010s. The analysis focuses on a total of 100 stative verb...

_____This article will be published in English Language and Linguistics in 2020._____ The spread of the progressive from dynamic to stative verbs started in the 17th century, and slowed down in the late 20th century. The present study investigates recent change in the use of stative progressives in conversational British English from the early 199...

English in the German-Speaking World - edited by Raymond Hickey December 2019

In English, lexical stress provides essential information guiding lexical activation. However, little is known about the processing of lexical stress in post-colonial Englishes. The present study examines the perception of lexical stress in disyllabic words by adult speakers of Standard Indian English. Results show that in iambic words (second syll...

In English, lexical stress provides essential information guiding lexical activation. However, little is known about the processing of lexical stress in post-colonial Englishes. The present study examines the perception of lexical stress in disyllabic words by adult speakers of Standard Indian English. Results show that in iambic words (second syll...

Trinidadian English (TrinE) prosody is often popularly described as 'sing-song'. Previous studies indicate that distinctive intonational patterns might be partly responsible for its distinctive prosody. However , evidence on pitch range and dynamism is currently limited. We analyse pitch level, overall pitch range, and pitch dynamism in TrinE based...

L1 background is often described as the main factor accounting for variation in postcolonial ESL varieties. However, recent studies (e.g. Mesthrie 2009 , 2017 ) suggest that variation patterns in ESL varieties can in some cases also be linked to identity factors rooted in local patterns of intergroup relations. This study examines the interrelation...

Corpus linguistics has become one of the most widely used methodologies across the different linguistic subdisciplines; especially the study of world-wide varieties of English uses corpus-based investigations as one of the chief methodologies. This volume comprises descriptions of the many new corpus initiatives both within and outside Africa that...

Although English is becoming increasingly entrenched in Western Europe, large‐scale comparative studies of attitudes among the general public to this development are scarce. We investigate over 4,000 Dutch and Germans’ attitudes towards English based on responses to an attitudinal questionnaire. Respondents saw English as a useful additional langua...

Research on the historical development of varieties of English usually tracks influence from established, so-called Inner Circle, varieties of English (such as British English) to less established Outer Circle varieties (such as Indian English). Recently, evidence of convergent patterns of language use in a number of Outer Circle Asian varieties ha...

Previous studies indicate that even advanced learners of English as a Foreign Language and speakers of English as a Second Language extend the progressive to stative verbs, contrary to the predictions of the Aspect Hypothesis (AH). We test this claim based on a corpus of beginning and lower intermediate learner writing produced by speakers of three...

Investigations of the link between the perception and production of prosody by language learners can inform theories of prosody perception and production, especially with regard to Second Language Acquisition (SLA), and for the implementation of prosody in Foreign Language Teaching (FLT). The perception and production of prosody in L2 speech are of...

This study investigates how age, gender, social class and dialect influence how frequently speakers of British English use intensifiers (e.g. very) in private conversations and whether this has changed over the last two decades. With data drawn from over 600 speakers and 4M words included in the Spoken British National Corpus (1994 and 2014 Sample)...

This study demonstrates how quantitative characteristics of speaker fluency can be measured in the phonologically annotated and time-aligned corpora ICE-Nigeria and ICE-Scotland, which belong to the ‘new generation’ of ICE corpora. Some files from the categories broadcast talk and unscripted speeches in ICE Nigeria and ICE Scotland were phonemicall...

Previous research suggests that intonation is a particularly challenging aspect of L2 speech learning. While most research focuses on speech production, we widen the focus and study the perception of intonation by L2 learners. We investigate whether advanced German learners of English have knowledge of the appropriate English intonation patterns in...

Transcriptome-scale data can reveal essential clues into understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms behind specific cellular functions and biological processes. Transcriptomics is a continually growing field of research utilized in biomarker discovery. The transcriptomic profile of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC), which serve as slow-wave...

Alignment of predicted amino acid sequences from HCN4 transcriptional variants. The open reading frame was identified for each transcriptional variant, and all predicted amino acid sequences were aligned. Six transmembrane helices (S1–S6) and a pore region are shown. Colors on amino acid sequence show distinct regions and segments. Green are start...

Identification of DNA methylation/demethylation enzymes and methyl-CpG binding proteins highly and specifically expressed in ICC. (A) DNA methyltransferases (Dnmt1 and Dnmt3a), methylcytosine dioxygenases (Tet1, Tet2, Tet3), and DNA oxidative demethylase (Alkbh1) enriched in JICC and CICC. (B) ICC-specific isoforms of DNA methylation and demethylat...

A list of receptors expressed in jejunal and colonic ICC. (XLSX)

A list of phosphatases expressed in jejunal and colonic ICC. (XLSX)

Alignment of predicted amino acid sequences from THBS4 transcriptional variants. The open reading frame was identified for each transcriptional variant, and predicted amino acid sequences were aligned together. An N-ternimal signal peptide, Lamin G-like domain, two cell attachment sites (RGD), four EGF-like domains including two calcium binding sit...

Identification of hydrogen and sodium transporter subunits highly and specifically expressed in ICC. (A) Hydrogen transporter isoforms enriched in JICC and CICC. (B) ICC-specific hydrogen transporter isoforms. (C) Sodium transporter isoforms enriched in JICC and CICC. (D) ICC-specific sodium transporter isoforms. Cell specificity was determined by...

Identification of histone modifying enzymes highly and specifically expressed in ICC. (A) Histone acetyltransferases enriched in JICC and CICC. (B) ICC-specific histone acetyltransferases. (C) Histone deacetylases enriched in JICC and CICC. (D) ICC-specific histone deacetylases. (E) Histone methyltransferases enriched in JICC and CICC. (F) ICC-spec...

Identification of protein kinases and phosphatases highly and specifically expressed in ICC. (A) Protein kinases enriched in JICC and CICC. (B) ICC-specific protein kinases. (C) Phosphatases enriched in JICC and CICC. (D) ICC-specific phosphatases. Cell specificity was determined by comparative analysis of gene expression profiles among ICC, SMC, a...

A list of transcriptional variants expressed in jejunal and colonic ICC. (XLSX)

A list of ion channels and transporters expressed in jejunal and colonic ICC. (XLSX)

A list of protein kinases expressed in jejunal and colonic ICC. (XLSX)

Oligonucleotides used in this study. (XLS)

Summary of ICC transcriptomes obtained from RNA-seq. (XLSX)

A list of genes expressed in jejunal and colonic ICC. (XLSX)

A list of growth factors expressed in jejunal and colonic ICC. (XLSX)

A list of transcription factors expressed in jejunal and colonic ICC. (XLSX)

A list of epigenetic enzymes and regulators expressed in jejunal and colonic ICC. (XLSX)

Confirmation of cell markers expressed in ICC. (A) Expression levels of Kit (ICC marker), (B) Myh11 (SMC marker), (C) Pdgfra (PDGFRα+ cell marker), and (D) Uchl1 (PGP9.5, neuronal cell marker) in the jejunum, colon, and isolated JICC and CICC. (E) Expression levels of PDGFRα+ cell markers (Pdgfra, Pdgfrb, Cd34, Kcnn3, P2ry1, and Ces1d) and ICC mark...

Identification of potassium, sodium, and cation channel subunits highly and specifically expressed in ICC. (A) Calcium channel isoforms enriched in JICC and CICC. (B) ICC-specific calcium channel isoforms. (C) Potassium channel isoforms enriched in JICC and CICC. (D) ICC-specific potassium channel isoforms. (E) Sodium channel isoforms enriched in J...

Identification of growth factors, receptors, and transcription factors highly and specifically expressed in ICC. (A) Growth factor isoforms enriched in JICC and CICC. (B) ICC-specific growth factor isoforms. (C) Receptor isoforms enriched in JICC and CICC. (D) ICC-specific receptor isoforms. (E) Transcription factor isoforms enriched in JICC and CI...

Scottish Standard English (SSE) is often regarded as a standard Scottish English accent combined with a standard grammar shared with the rest of Britain. In consequence, SSE is underexplored (except, perhaps, for its phonology) and has virtually no place in the research field of World Englishes. We argue that this is because linguists studying gram...

Among the time-reference forms of English, the acquisition of the present perfect is regarded as the single most challenging task for non-native speakers, mainly due to the semantic peculiarities of this form in contrast to many other languages. In this chapter, we focus on variation between the present perfect and the simple past in German-speakin...

This chapter summarises the results of the study, focussing on which features of the phonology of Indian English contribute to its syllable-timed rhythm (compared to British English) while also considering the smaller number of features that do not contribute to rhythmic differences between the two varieties. The discussion then turns to a systemat...

This article offers an analysis of present perfect (PP) use in Nigerian English (NigE), based on the Nigerian component of the International Corpus of English (ICE). First, we analyze variable contexts with the Simple Past (PT; determined by temporally specified contexts) as one of the main competitors of the PP, and thus assess the PP-friendliness...

This volume brings together key players in discourse variation research to offer original analyses of a wide range of discourse-pragmatic variables, such as 'like', 'innit', 'you get me', and 'at the end of the day'. The authors introduce a range of new methods specifically tailored to the study of discourse-pragmatic variation and change in synchr...

This paper investigates the frequency of the present perfect (PP) in 20 national varieties of English with data from the 1.9 billion word Corpus of Global Web-based English (GloWbE). Linear regression models were used to determine which factors can account for differences in PP frequency across varieties. The results revealed that a major factor is...

This chapter shows that the production differences between Indian English and British English in speech rhythm (documented in the previous chapter) are also relevant in the perception of speech. Even if differences in the production of speech rhythm between two varieties are large and significant, it is not a foregone conclusion that they play any...

This introductory chapter makes the case for a detailed study comparing the speech rhythm of an Outer Circle variety of English, Educated Indian English, with an Inner Circle variety, British English. There are now more people around the world who speak an Outer Circle variety of English (usually as a second language) than an Inner Circle variety....

This chapter presents the results of the analysis of differences in the production of speech rhythm in educated Indian English and British English. A variety of correlates of prominence is tested within a multidimensional model of speech rhythm. In addition, the influence of a number of methodological parameters is considered to control for these f...

This chapter describes the empirical basis of the present study and the methods applied to the data. Read and spontaneous data from 10 speakers of BrE was drawn from the DyViS database (Nolan et al., A forensic phonetic study of dynamic sources of variability in speech: the DyViS project. In: Warren P, Watson, CI (eds) Proceedings of the 11th Austr...

This chapter discusses the nature and measurement of speech rhythm and proposes a multidimensional model of speech rhythm. Acoustic research on speech rhythm usually relies on so-called rhythm metrics, and the existing metrics are described and compared. Most rhythm metrics are based on duration and quantify, for example, the variability of vocalic...

This chapter provides information on the historical and social context of Indian English, characterising it as an Outer Circle variety of English. English was originally introduced to India when it was a British colony, and today English is spoken by about 23 % of the population of India, of which 4 % are fluent, and many belonging to the latter gr...

This chapter evaluates the available evidence on the question of whether Outer Circle varieties of English tend to be more syllable-timed than Inner Circle varieties. Although a wide range of rhythm metrics has been proposed, research on the speech rhythm of varieties of English has concentrated on a small number of duration-based measures (describ...

Serum response factor (SRF) is a transcription factor known to mediate phenotypic plasticity in smooth muscle cells (SMCs). Despite the critical role of this protein in mediating intestinal injury response, little is known about the mechanism through which SRF alters SMC behavior. Here, we provide compelling evidence for the involvement of SRF-depe...

Background/aims: Smooth muscle cells (SMCs) characteristically express serum response factor (SRF), which regulates their development. The role of SRF in SMC plasticity in the pathophysiological conditions of gastrointestinal (GI) tract is less characterized. Methods: We generated SMC-specific Srf knockout mice and characterized the prenatally l...

Genome-scale expression data on the absolute numbers of gene isoforms offers essential clues in cellular functions and biological processes. Smooth muscle cells (SMCs) perform a unique contractile function through expression of specific genes controlled by serum response factor (SRF), a transcription factor that binds to DNA sites known as the CArG...

This study examined the acoustic correlates of primary and secondary stress in Indian English. Together with the patterns of lexical stress placement, the parameters of syllable duration, pitch slope, intensity and spectral balance were examined in six noun-verb pairs. Two L1 backgrounds (Hindi and Malayalam) were examined. Results showed that lexi...

Research on dialect discrimination has shown that: (1) segmental differences, (2) differences in intonation and (3) differences in rhythm can be acoustic cues for discrimination. However, it is not known whether any of these cues is more important than the others. By investigating the two English varieties and manipulating different acoustic cues,...

In this paper, we provide an overview of the new GloWbE Corpus — the Corpus of Global Web-based English. GloWbE is based on 1.9 billion words in 1.8 million web pages from 20 different English-speaking countries. Approximately 60 percent of the corpus comes from informal blogs, and the rest from a wide range of other genres and text types. Because...

This book addresses the question whether Educated Indian English is more syllable-timed than British English from two standpoints: production and perception. Many post-colonial varieties of English, which are mostly spoken as a second language in countries such as India, Nigeria and the Philippines, are thought to have a syllable-timed rhythm, wher...

Most research on speech rhythm has focussed on duration. For example, [1] suggested the normalised pairwise variability index for vocalic intervals (nPVI-V) in order to measure the variability of vocalic durations. This paper argues that speech rhythm research should also take into account other correlates of prominence as well as their interaction...

Previous accounts of speech rhythm focus mainly on duration. For example, the normalised Pairwise Variability Index for vocalic intervals (nPVI-V) quantifies relative duration differences between successive vocalic intervals. Prototypical syllable-timing is characterised by small differences in duration, prototypical stress-timing by large differen...

This study explores the system of progressive aspect marking in educated adult speakers of Nigerian English (NigE), which has been claimed to differ distinctly from that of other varieties of English. A total of 4,813 progressive constructions drawn from the International Corpus of English (ICE)–Nigeria were analyzed and compared with data from the...

This study investigates the usage of the pragmatic focus particles even and still in Nigerian English (NigE). A comparison of ICE-Nigeria and ICE-GB showed diverging frequencies of both particles across different registers between the two varieties of English and a significantly higher overall usage of even in NigE. Qualitative analyses revealed th...

Focus marking in Indian English (IndE) with adverbs such as only, also, and too has been investigated recently by several authors. Based on the Indian and British sections of the International Corpus of English, this article argues that usage of also in IndE differs significantly from British English (BrE). Also often follows its focus immediately,...